“Environmental racism is a form of systemic racism whereby communities of colour are disproportionately burdened with health hazards through policies and practices that force them to live in proximity to sources of toxic waste such as sewage works, mines, landfills, power stations, major roads and emitters of airborne particulate matter”. — Peter Beech, World Economic Forum writer.
Read Peter Beech’s full article ‘ What is environmental racism and how can we fight it?’.
Does environmental racism exist in Canada?
Unfortunately, there are many examples of environmental racism in Canada. We learned some of the examples from CBC News: The National video called ‘Growing push to address and track environmental racism in Canada’.
In this video, we learn examples such as:
- Aamjiwnaang First Nation’s fight for clean air near Canada’s largest concentration of petrochemical plants and refineries;
- Pictou Landing First Nation dealing with pulp mill effluent dumped in its adjacent waters; and
- Black communities in Nova Scotia exposed to hazardous waste when landfills were created nearby.
Activism to combat environmental racism is ongoing and can take years to make meaning change. For example, the federal government recently announced the opening of new water treatment facility for the community residents of Shoal Lake 40, after having been under drinking water advisory since 1997.
To learn more, visit CBC’s news article ‘After 24 years of water advisories, Shoal Lake 40 First Nation can drink from the tap’